The brighter future of Saudi Arabia

Via Matt Welch comes a good story that portends much great news: Saudi Arabia is lifting its ban on women drivers. Yeah, yeah, fill in the joke here [______] but let's get serious now. The article says:

Saudi Arabia is to lift its ban on women drivers in an attempt to stem a rising suffragette-style movement in the deeply conservative state.

Government officials have confirmed the landmark decision and plan to issue a decree by the end of the year.

The move is designed to forestall campaigns for greater freedom by women, which have recently included protesters driving cars through the Islamic state in defiance of a threat of detention and loss of livelihoods.

Many movements come and go (which is mostly a good thing), but can you imagine something like this happening in the historical suffragette movements in Western countries? Would it have stopped them? Should it have stopped them?

Critics believe allowing women to drive would be the first step towards a gradual erosion of the kingdom's modesty laws. A woman would have to remove the traditional abaya robe to get a clear view behind the wheel.

"Allowing women to drive will only bring sin," a letter to Al-Watan newspaper declared last year. "The evils it would bring - mixing between the genders, temptations, and tarnishing the reputation of devout Muslim women - outweigh the benefits."

[emphasis mine]

The critics are right to believe that it is another signal of the impending end of their moral system. The problem is that they think it's a bad thing.

"Allowing women to drive will only bring sin," a letter to Al-Watan newspaper declared last year. "The evils it would bring - mixing between the genders, temptations, and tarnishing the reputation of devout Muslim women - outweigh the benefits."
And that's just the DMV line! Hi-oh!

Seriously though, Kevin Carson frequently goes on about the government subsidization of roads has seriously messed with the economy, benefiting Big Box stores over local ones. If the government completely got out of transportation, what do you think the future would be like?